


Sharp Tongues

by seekingsquake



Series: My Family, My Friends [5]
Category: She-Hulk, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Arguments, Gen, Implied Child Abuse, Past Spousal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-22 04:32:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3715120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekingsquake/pseuds/seekingsquake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes uncontrollable anger doesn't mean Hulking out. Sometimes it means saying things you shouldn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharp Tongues

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Bruce and Jen getting into an intense verbal fight. Yelling is a must.
> 
> All characters are owned by Marvel. I just like bringing them out to play once in a while.  
> Please do not repost or reupload this piece anywhere without consent. If you ask, I'm sure we can work something out :]

They’ve been sniping at each other all day and no one can really figure out why. Mostly the team had ignored it because it’s natural to fight with family, and it’s natural to fight with people you spend a lot of time around, and Bruce and Jen are nearly inseparable most days. It finally comes to blows over dinner that night when Bruce gives her a look as she pours herself a glass of red wine.

“What?” she snaps at him.

He shrugs and says, “You don’t even like red.”

She laughs, but it’s angry and incredulous. “How the hell would you know that? You fell off the earth in 2006. It’s been a long nine years, Bruce.”

He stares at her for a moment, his jaw tight, and then he murmurs, “You know why I didn’t call, Jenny.”

“Oh, don’t you ‘Jenny’ me, Bruce. You didn’t call because you’re a fucking coward and I’m not a little girl anymore.”

Nobody says anything. Nobody moves. Clint is holding his breath and Tony’s eyes look like they’re about to pop right out of his head.

“Oh, would you stop that!” Bruce snaps, nearly slamming his cutlery down onto the table. “You walk around with this Holier than Thou attitude, like you’re so much better than everybody else just because everything’s always been easy for you. I didn’t call you because I was scared that if I did, _they_ would get you. They would _hurt_ you. General Ross was willing to sacrifice his own damn _daughter_ to get his hands on me; you think he’d show any mercy to _my_ family? If that makes me a fucking coward then so be it! It’s not like I was on some fucking vacation or anything! It’s not like I had a relaxing time sightseeing the globe!”

“Oh, fuck off Banner!” she shouts at him. “As soon as Betty came into the picture none of us fucking mattered anyway! You were supposed to be at Harvard when I got there. You promised to help me get settled, and as soon as Betty decided she was done with Boston you were _gone_. She isolated you from all your friends, from all your family, and she sold you to the military when that project was ready to take off! She was emotionally manipulative and she–,”

“Are you insinuating that Betty _abused_ me?”

“I’m insinuating that with your track record I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t even know what partner abuse looked like.”

“What’s that even mean?”

“You were still telling me that Brian loved Aunty Becky when you were fucking sixteen years old! He _killed_ her, Bruce, and you wouldn’t even admit it even though _everybody knew_ that you saw what happened! You wouldn’t even know what something less subtle than that looked like!”

Steve looks like he wants to sink into the floor. Pepper’s got a hand over her mouth and Thor looks like he wants to leave but doesn’t want to draw any attention to himself.

“You leave my parents out of this! And you leave Betty out of this too! If you have a problem with me than let it be with _me_. You think you’re better than me because your daddy _loved_ you? Your father was the fucking sheriff; where was he when my mom tried to get help? Where was the fucking _law_ when she had to stay home from work because Brian wouldn’t let her talk to anybody? She called him the night we tried to run and he didn’t answer his damn phone, Jen! _Where was he?_ ”

“Shut up. Shut up! My dad didn’t kill her, _yours_ did! Your dad was a fucking monster, and now _you. Are. Too._ ”

Everything stops. It’s like time freezes for a moment, and then all of a sudden everything’s moving in fast forward. Tony’s on his feet and shouting, “You take that back!” and Steve’s moving toward Jen because suddenly she’s sobbing. She can hardly hold herself up, and Bruce has made it all the way to the other side of the room and has his forehead pressed hard against the window. Then, through the sobs and gasps, they hear Jen say, “I never wanted to be _this_.”

Bruce huffs and responds softly, “Neither did I.” He crosses back over to her and hesitates for only a moment before pulling her into his arms. His voice is impossibly soft when he says, “When it first happened to me, the first two or three years were full of mood swings and anger that came out of nowhere, and I’m sorry that I haven’t been very patient with you. I’m sorry that I was gone for all those years. I’m sorry I was missing when Aunty Lainey died, and I’m sorry that I made you feel like you weren’t important to me. Because you are. You always have been.”

“I didn’t mean any of those things I said,” she’s still sobbing, but he’s had practise deciphering her cry-talk. He’s been doing it since she was a toddler. “I was just so…”

“Angry.” He finishes for her. “I know.”

“You’re not a monster.”

“Okay, Jenny. It’s okay.” “

You’re not. I couldn’t do this without you. I. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that you–”

“Shh. It’s okay, Jenny. Shh. It wasn’t you. It wasn’t you. It’s okay. It’s okay now.”

He says it like he’s sure, but everybody else is shaken. He might be sure, but Tony sure isn’t. And neither is anybody else.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt by the wonderful werevampiwolf.


End file.
